High-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member wanted by U.S. killed by gunmen in Mexico

On Thursday, a high-ranking member of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, Eliseo Imperial Castro, also known as "Cheyo Antrax," was ambushed and killed on a highway in Sinaloa, northwestern Mexico. The U.S. had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Eliseo's uncle, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the co-founder of the cartel. Both Eliseo and Ismael are wanted by the United States for drug trafficking.

U.S. Treasury Department's Description

The U.S. Treasury Department previously labeled Imperial Castro as "a high-ranking member of the Los Antrax organization, the enforcement group of the Sinaloa Cartel." He had been charged with trafficking methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana, as well as money laundering by a U.S. court in 2016.

International Drug Trafficking

In 2015, "Chino Antrax," a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member, pleaded guilty in federal court, acknowledging his coordination of transporting tons of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. as well as his involvement in cartel-related violence.

The Sinaloa Cartel

The Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful and violent criminal organizations, was founded by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States.

Last week, Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, also known as "El Nini," a suspected top assassin in Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, was extradited to the United States. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that Perez Salas was one of the cartel's "lead sicarios, or assassins," and was responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel's criminal drug trafficking enterprise.